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What a journey it’s been. Over the five prior blogs, we’ve discussed how advisors kill their reputations. They become sales narcissists or black hat tricksters or succumb to greed, disorganization, or technophobia. In this last blog in the “reputation death” series, I'd like to talk about the most serious reputation risk of all — being a king (or queen) of pain.

Consider this medical analogy. To eliminate a toothache, your dentist recommends having a tooth pulled. You expect some pain, if not during the procedure, then after. But you accept this discomfort because it’s part of the healing process.

In financial services, however, pain tolerance is much lower. For example, let’s say a client needs safe retirement income. He hires an advisor to assess his needs and devise a plan. To achieve his objective, he’ll need to meet with the advisor a few times, do a bit of research and review recommendations. The whole process will take some effort. But it won’t be painful ... if the advisor does his job right.

But let’s assume the client hires a royal pain — an advisor who fundamentally shirks or deliberately violates his core duties. Such an advisor will dole out all manner of pain by:

When a client realizes the advisor is inept — or is harming his interests on purpose — he will feel pain. Then dismay. Then disgust. Soon after, the client will do the inevitable — topple the advisor from his or her throne.

Have you ever hurt a client deliberately? Then you need to think hard about why you’re in this business. Ask yourself these questions:

Do I sincerely want to help people or am I just out to help myself?

Am I willing to be a true professional or a professional in name only?

About the Author

Steven R. McCarty is the Co-founder and Chairman of the National Ethics Association (NEA), a membership organization of over 25,000 financial services professionals. Since 2001, the NEA (and its predecessor, the National Ethics Bureau) has provided its members with two fundamental services: (1) ... More